


On The Ship.

by BabyPom



Series: On The Ship [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-02-28 05:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13264992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyPom/pseuds/BabyPom
Summary: Interactions on the hand ship on the journey to home world.Basically Lapis Lazuli, Jasper and Peridot being idiots and resenting each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this quite a while ago at nighttime when I should have been sleeping, but I'm editing it into readable format now.  
> It really needed editing. almost everything was a spelling error, and I had random comments about my cats interspersed for some reason. This is what happens when I write when I should be sleeping.  
> (not sure how many chapters, because it depends on how I edit it, and I'm trying to do it in chunks.)

While Peridot was working on the ship’s energy supply, Jasper never entered for an unknown reason. Lapis had worked out that Peridot never complained about her staying when Peridot worked, so the first and only thing she had learnt about modern homeworld technology was how to sabotage this energy supply.

It kept them moving at a slower speed too.

After the first few times, Peridot had tried to start a few brief conversations during this time. They were very awkward, but that was to be expected, Peridot was still learning after all.

“What do humans do then?”

Lapis smiled, half fondly, half bored at being questioned like an infant by a Peridot who had only emerged from the ground a few years ago. “They do all sorts- they eat and sleep and-”

Peridot sighed. “I don’t know what any of these things are, Lapis Lazuli, and I am half convinced given your record that those were entirely made up words.”  
“They can work, and they can dance, and-”

“Dance?!” Peridot squeaked, and tried to compose herself again. “You mean like- a fusion dance- dance…..”

Lapis didn’t mean it in that way, but she jumped on this opportunity to make Peridot uncomfortable, “Yes, yes totally. Humans learnt how to do that from the Crystal Gems.”

Peridot shook her head. “I have to update the computer files again.” Peridot stopped what she was doing briefly and pulled up one of her screens. Lapis flinched, but less than the first time she had witnessed this unnatural act. 

Most of what Lapis had told them after the first two days had been lies.

Lapis laughed on the inside, a bitter laugh. She hated the way homeworld had changed, but this misinformation was the only way she could fight the changing tide of culture. This Peridot for example didn’t have any issue with the culture she had been made into, but then again, she was built for this culture, programmed into it.  
Lapis shook her again, maybe if it became known that this Peridot was the only one who could get information out of her, they’d keep this Peridot around a bit longer.

“Anything else about these human fusions I should know about to add into the file.”

“I can’t think of anything at the moment- I’ll probably remember later.”

“Why don’t you know now, would it not be more efficient to tell it all to me now.” Peridot sounded annoyed.

Lapis shrugged her shoulders, “All that time on Earth damaged my memory and personality circuits slightly, it takes a bit of time for more than the basics to come to me.” It was a lie of course, she needed the time to come up with the best lie.

Peridot stared at Lapis for a second. “Earth damages our memories?!”

“Only after a few hundred years,,” she hoped that when Peridot put this in her file it wouldn’t damage either of their chances of survival.

Ah well, the damage was done now.

“Well if it degrades personality, that would explain Jasper.” Did Peridot just make a joke. Lapis wasn’t sure, so she just agreed, and they fell into silence. It was awkward but not uncomfortable. More importantly it was away from Jasper.


	2. Chapter 2

Jasper didn’t understand why this was such a damn faulty ship.

Actually, It wasn’t the ship that was the issue, it was the Rubidium Phaser Energy Chamber that kept on malfunctioning. Again and again and again.

It kept on slowing down their journey, stopping them dead in space whenever the panelling needed to be removed in order to repair the RPEC. 

There was a ringing noise whenever that happened. The RPEC was made out of Gem Shards after all, so it made a ringing noise much like a scream. 

Jasper had no idea what Lapis had been through in order to not be affected by this, and Peridot was obviously programmed to not be affected as she was made to do this. But Jasper, the most battle hardened of the three was.

So whenever it was necessary to repair the Rubidium Phaser Energy Chamber, Jasper would instantly head to the other side of the ship. The scream would be fine at most frequencies- but at this specific frequency 12576 Hz, it was the same as Pink Diamond’s had been, right as she was shattered.

And that was the frequency that this RPEC was calibrated to. Of all the frequencies it could've been, it had to be that one.

The fastest they got to Earth, the faster they could get back, and the faster she could get off this damned ship.


	3. Chapter 3

Peridot was an Era II gem, and she was proud of this. She didn't understand why The Lapis Lazuli reacted the way she did after she asked Peridot to explain what the difference between an Era I and Era II Gem was. It was the way things was, the way society functioned, and there was nothing wrong with it.

The main difference was in Production Methods and Longeivity.

“Production Methods,” The Lapis Lazuli questioned, “Surely they be made in a kindergarten no matter what.” The Lapis Lazuli had been away from Homeworld for a while, it wasn’t her fault she was ignorant about such things.

She must be patient.

Era I Gems were like Jasper and The Lapis Lazuli, they were made in Kindergartens, like the one they were going to go see on Earth. 

Era II Gems were recycled, made for a mission, then broken down afterwards to be rebuilt into another different gem at another time. 

“You’ll be broken down!” The Lapis Lazuli seemed shocked, she seemed… worried. Peridot didn’t understand. That was what she was made for, what she was made from. It was how the world works.

“What were you made for?”

I am the Peridot made for reactivating the Earth Kindergartens, but I cannot tell The Lapis Lazuli any more than that unfortunately. It is classified, and I am programmed to tell it on a need to know business. Then once we return I will be broken down. Hopefully some of me will become another Peridot but I’m not entirely sure about that. Peridot paused in her speech to Lapis for a second. She had switched to seeing herself as an “I” for a second.

That was not good for a temporary being such as herself, so she ended her conversation with Lapis and I went to enter this defect that I- I mean she- obviously had into the computer, so that hopefully my components would not suffer the same defect I have.

It would not do to have a Peridot refer to herself as I.

But she

But I did not enter it into my computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: I used http://www.scifiideas.com/technobabble-generator/ to find a name for the Energy Generator on the ship.)


	4. Chapter 4

It took several goes in order to find out what was the best thing to sabotage on this ship- some of her early attempts hadn’t even been discovered yet, and most of them failed. But then she learnt, through trial and error and some gentle questioning of Peridot the best and most effective way to sabotage the Rubidium Phaser Energy Chamber. 

The gem disrupters were a new piece of technology, and honestly she was terrified of them. 

But they were useful.

By itself itself it wouldn’t harm the RPEC, it was designed specifically to prevent this act of sabotage. She wasn’t quite sure as to the story behind this but she knew one existed based on a comment from Jasper to Peridot.

But they forgot that Lapis lazuli could store water in her gem. When she got to homeworld, she was told to get rid of it all for decontamination reasons, but Lapis Lazuli lied or maybe she forgot. And that was her secret weapon.

So she had a routine by now. Sneak in, remove the panel, cover it in water making sure it got into all the cracks, and electrocute being thankful that the water dulls the scream. The hide the gem disruptor back in her gem, reabsorb the water, and close the panel again.

She supposed this time she hadn’t cover it quite enough, and a slight scream escaped, she startled, and heard footsteps from a while away. 

Quickly she paused halfway in her task, closed the panel.

She didn’t bother to place the water or gem disruptor away, instead using it as wings, and hiding in the shadows on the ceiling, gem disruptor clutched just in case it was needed.

It was Peridot, not Jasper.

“Damn it, broken again!” Peridot screeched in disbelief once she opened the panel. Peridot didn’t look up, and eventually left, though she seemed disappointed that she hadn’t turned up.

She didn’t come down from the ceiling until Peridot had left, and it took even longer for her to stop clutching the gem disruptor and put it away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: I wrote this quite a while ago- BEFORE Zircons came up in canon.

There wasn’t really much for Jasper to do on this ship during the journey, other than walk round and round and round, wearing holes in the floor and terrifying the other two gems on the ship. If it wasn’t for the damned malfunctions she would probably actually enjoy this rare down time. But the way things were going this was more like punishment duty than the break it was supposed to be. 

She’d told her superior’s secretary as much, and she was promised a nice assignment after this. She just had to wait. But knowing that Zircon it would probably be another supposedly good but bad in practise trip like this one.

Still, she’d rather be here than in Zircon’s place- she wouldn’t want to have to report directly to an agate all the time.

She was marching around her office counter-clockwise for a change when all of a sudden a pinging noise came from the only console in the room. It took her a few minutes to go up to it- she thought it was Peridot and Peridot deserved to be annoyed with that smarmy face of hers. But it wasn’t Peridot.

It was Zircon. “I managed to get you onto a better assignment after this one is complete.”

“What is it this time?” She gave Zircon a smile. It paid to be nice to those who can do things for you.

Zircon blushed, it was obvious she had a bit of a crush. This emotional expression was probably why she was just a secretary instead of a lawyer. “I put an application for you into a strategy course sponsored by Yellow AND White Diamond themselves, and you have a place!”

Jasper leaned closer to the screen, “Well done, Zircon, this will do just fine. I don’t think I could ask for anything better.”

Zircon was flustered and the conversation quickly came to a close.

Jasper punched a wall in celebration once the viewscreen closed up. This was excellent! And to think- she’d never of heard of this without Zircon.

It just shows that being the only one nice to the secretaries makes them go an extra mile for you.

Now she had something nice to look forward to- she just had to survive this damned journey first.


	6. Chapter 6

Peridot had no clue why the RPEC kept on malfunctioning as much as it did, and that annoyed. It did allow her to spend some time talking with Lapis Lazuli away from The Jasper, but that was still not enough to quell her annoyance.

Still she is a peridot and thus make the best use of all supplies open to her. Therefore, she will have the Lapis Lazuli tell her more about the human fusions.

Lapis Lazuli appeared to be doing nothing when she entered the room, it appears as if Lapis had arrived first. When Peridot spoke, Lapis did not reply, until Peridot prodded her. 

“I’m sorry Peridot I was sleeping. Speak louder next time.”

Peridot didn’t know what sleeping was. It was a foreign term to her. She placed on the list of things to ask the Lapis about, but at the bottom. 

Humans can fuse, but she had no details on how this works, so therefore homeworld had no details. And this was unacceptable.

“So basically, humans dance and then they fuse into something at least three times the size of the human’s base weight, but it looks like a human just bigger.  
Plus sometimes when they unfuse, they will be an extra full size human there- like if three humans fuse- four may be there when they unfuse! It’s a way they make their forces expand quicker than reproducing as humans do usually.”

It was at this moment that Peridot made the mistake of asking how humans usually reproduce. She wishes there was some way to edit out what she was told out of her memory, but sadly Peridots are not made that way.

It was at this moment she was thankful her existence would be cut short once the journey was over. This horrible knowledge would hopefully be lost forever.


	7. Chapter 7

She was starting to feel.

She was starting to feel feelings and it terrified her.

Peridots were not meant to feel,

They were tools- temporary beings programmed for a task, not meant to think for themselves. not meant to feel.

But she was.

And she didn’t know if she was more terrified over the idea of feeling or over the idea of dying.

No it wouldn’t be dying

Or would it

She would still exist afterwards

It just wouldn’t be her

Would the new peridots that followed her, made up with the same material as her also have her emotions.

Would she taint the Peridots of future generations with her defective emotions.

She should tell her superiors of this defect so she would be crushed and dissolved into base materials instead of being broken up and rebuilt.

But she didn’t want to

She didn’t want her existence to end forever

She just hoped that the Peridots that would be made form her would be spared from her fate of this feeling

That was all she could ever hope for.

She also hoped they would be spared from her distractedness.

A peridot who accidentally poofs themselves with their equipment while fixing something is not a useful one.

She didn’t report that incident,

There were lots of things she wasn’t reporting nowadays.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Titled: Lapis Lazuli winds Peridot up about earth again.  
> This part is short and unfinished and I had no idea where I was going it? So it's being left as is.

“The weather on Earth is crazy.”

“What’s weather.”

Lapis Lazuli sighed. “I forgot for a second that the atmospheric conditions on homeworld had been completely standardised while I was gone.”

Peridot paused to swear at the flight console she was currently fixing after Jasper had broken it.

Again.

Then she replied, “By “weather” you mean changes in these conditions then.”

“Yes, Peridot. I thought you had a complete internal dictionary. Shouldn’t you know these things.”

Peridot sniffed. “It’s not a complete thing. It’s complete as in contains everything I should need, with no superfluous information.”


End file.
